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Understanding how an automatic gearbox works
Interior of a car showing the automatic gear. PHOTO BY EDGAR R. BATTE
There is the argument that automatic cars have dominated the market and are the modern options over manual cars but manufacturers continue to produce cars with manual transmissions.
However, according to some drivers, it does not matter the ease an automatic car presents during driving, they still prefer shifting gears to keep themselves engaged in the process of driving.
Well, drivers who prefer automatic transmission will say that driving does not have to be a lot of work.
Some will put it in Drive (D gear) or Neutral (N) and only pay attention to controlling the steering wheel and their feet on the acceleration and brake peddles.
However, one car technician warns that caution needs to be taken when engaging the neutral gear in an automatic car because it wears and tears and many drivers use it wrongly.
Andrew Musoke, a motor vehicle technician, explains that in manual cars, when engaging a gear, a drive has to press the clutch pedal, which is not the case with automatic gears. There is no clutch plate or pressure plate.
Joseph Bongole, an automotive technician, explains that in an automatic transmission, there is no need for pressure plate, clutch plate, clutch cylinder and slave cylinder for an automatic transmission system to function properly.
Rather, there is need for an automatic flywheel and torque converter.
But he points out that the automatic fly wheel is different from the flywheel in a manual transmission system.
“The torque converter is a fluid coupling whose job is to connect the engine to the transmission and then to the differential units where torque is distributed equally to all wheels,” Bongole explains.
In an automatic transmission, a converter covers the job of all the summarised parts.
“Once you engage the drive gear, there is an internal mechanism which continuously engages gears as the car moves.
It is an automotive process which does not require the driver to engage them,” Musoke adds.
Showing the different gears, he explains what their functions are.
P is for parking and when a driver engages it, it holds the car in one position.
R stands for reverse and takes the car backward when engaged.
N stands for neutral and it puts the car in a free mode. “If a car is in neutral, you can even be able to push the car and it will move,” Musoke explains but cautions drivers that it is not always advisable to engage and keep the car in neutral gear.
“It is a good gear to engage when someone is going down a slope because a car will use its own energy but it should not be used always.
It is subject to wear and tear.”
Musoke observes that some drivers always engage the neutral gear to save on fuel consumption.
The drivers misuse the neutral gear because they forget to shift back to the drive gear.
This affects the braking of the car because in the automatic transmission the moment a driver steps on the brake pedal, it also starts downshifting automatically to give the car grip to brake properly.
He cautions drivers not to forget about the handbrake because it is risky as a car will move especially if it is parked at an incline.
The automotive technician also points out that gears work hand in hand with a set of small clutch discs, which eliminate the synchronisers in transmission.
A special fluid is required for lubricating the clutch discs and gears regularly to enable opening and closing of the valves since they work in a pressurised system.
